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Tag Archives: Tough Mudder

As promised, FINALLY here is the story of How I Earned My Orange Headband and officially became a Tough Mudder.

I “swam” through waist-deep mud, crawled through dark tunnels, and was electrocuted in the head. With a smile on my face!

So let’s back up. If you’ve been following this blog, you know that I have been training for TM. Well, Sunday the 24th of August was the big day! It was the second day of “Tough Mudder Great Northeast” (TM events are huge and usually take place over the course of an entire weekend) and my friend Tom and I drove up with my family for the race challenge.

Still clean pre-race!

Full of nervous excitement at the start line!

The New England Mudder this year was held in Westbrook, ME. Oddly enough, part of it took place on a doctored-up golf course (and by doctored-up I meant post-apocalyptic). Tom said it was significantly less hilly as a result (most other TM’s are held on ski slopes and the like), but the footing was actually much worse. He was right there – the hills were not too extreme (though my hill workouts DEFINITELY paid off in this endurance event!) but a good part of the course was actually a series of hiking trails (used for snowmobiling in the winter, I believe). Those parts of the course were very steep, rocky, and irregular – definitely not very conducive to running. We hiked those parts of the course, as did most people. A few ran past us, but the possibility of easy injury dissuaded us from following suit. That said, the first half or so of the race was definitely more suited for running. Out of the total course, about 10.3 miles (TM events are between 10 and 10.3 miles), we estimated that we ran about 6 or so. The rest we hiked or were, of course, on one of TM’s infamous obstacles.

Trying not to think about the thick mud coating the inside of my compression shorts D:

The obstacles. Oh, the obstacles. There were over 20 of them, and certainly none of them were a piece of cake. The ones that I found most challenging were, predictably, the ones that required the most upper body strength. Though I did my best to work my upper body during my training, I think that there was realistically only so much I could do as a female and also in a limited time frame. Obstacles like Glory Blades – walls angled towards you that you had to scale – and Pole Dancer – parallel bars that you had to shimmy across with your hands over a mud pit – really challenged me. Pole Dancer and Funky Monkey – ascending monkey bars over a pool of cold, muddy water – were, frankly, more difficult than I had anticipated. I simply didn’t have the arm strength for them. Though I ultimately fell off both, isn’t that kind of the point? Despite the fact that I wasn’t able to “ace” them, so to speak, I am very proud to say that I did complete every obstacle, even if it was knee-deep in mud.

Candid shots from the course.

Most of the race, though, was about endurance, lower body, and core strength – which are luckily strengths of mine! I am very much slow and steady, which is exactly what is needed for this kind of event. That said, Tom and I still managed to finish in 3 ½ hours – an hour less than his time at his last TM! And 3 ½ hours also accounts for time spent waiting for obstacles, including traffic at one accidental mud pit that had become essentially impossible to cross without emergency volunteers and rope installations.

It’s an unpopular opinion, but I actually really enjoyed the obstacles that tested mental game the most. Yeah, the infamous Arctic Enema (a giant ice bath and you have to plunge into – and, yes, swim under a barrier in) wasn’t comfy. But I left it feeling oddly great. Yes, I probably am the only one, but it felt awesome to have done this physically and mentally challenging thing, this CRAZY thing, and did it with a smile on my face. That kind of endurance, that grit that Tough Mudder is notorious for testing, is really what I love.

Cheering Tom on as he did the “alums only” supplementary obstacles.

At the end of that crazy 3 ½ hour, 10+ mile and 20+ obstacle challenge, I felt like I had 130% earned that Dos Equis! My darling family was there to cheer me throughout the whole race, and of course I couldn’t have done it without my dear teammate. Neither of us can wait to do it next year, and this time with a big team, we hope! I collected my swaggy technical Under Armor finisher shirt with a giant goofy grin on my face.

Muddy and scraped up, but grinning ear to ear!

Immediately after the event, TM sent out an optional survey that would allow participants to earn a heavy discount on a new TM ticket…

It has been a very long time since I’ve posted – it’s been a rough couple of weeks. Not only have I been working a lot, but also I’ve been trying to prepare for and then actually making my big move into the city! But – it’s done! I am now the proud owner of a new Boston apartment 🙂

Needless to say, my teensy student’s budget necessitates a certain amount of creativity when it comes to acquiring different home necessities. I know I should’ve been posting more, but forgive me because I was scouring Craigslist for cheap vintage furniture. And completing my much-anticipated Tough Mudder. Oh, yeah – and starting law school!

Things are finally getting settled. The girlfriend and I have almost all the requisite home items (with a few comical exceptions, such as a bed) and are working on decorating the space to make it our own.

We even jumped back into our couples workout routine! We ran a 5k this past weekend, on Saturday, at the Franklin Park Zoo. It was a really small event, but it was fun and a really cute idea. Running through the zoo is perfect – both of us love the zoo! It was actually a pretty rough race for both of us, as I hadn’t worked out in the 2 weeks since my Tough Mudder between being dunked into the craziness of law school and the awful thing that is September 1st (move-in day) in Boston and she also hadn’t had much time on her hands. We took it a lot slower than we normally would have, but from what I heard, so did virtually everyone else – it was HUMID! It was positively soupy out, much to our chagrin. Everyone finished the race soaked and breathless – we were no exception.

I need to start getting back into my old workout habits. It has been a difficult transition to a new home, the intensity of law school, and overall a huge life transition to find a schedule. I actually sat down the other day and made an obsessive schedule on Excel, something I actually think is vital to stay on top of the heavy work loads. I’ve obviously carved out my gym time – now to create a training plan!

In between studying and brunching (both are necessary), I promise to post my Tough Mudder recap – it’s been a long time coming!

I hope that you are all resting (or already in bed!) preparing for the start of another week. I know that even though I woke up quite late this morning (I think I slept 11 hours – I guess I needed that sleep!), I am going to be ready for bed soon. But before that, I think I owe my followers a review of this week and a look into the little things I’ve been up to in my spare time!

As you may recall, I have started another summer job at a local seafood restaurant in my attempt to save at least some money before the poverty of law school. Last week was crazy – I was mildly sleep deprived and exhausted after working 5 nights in a row during my training! Plus, I had the awesomely fun 5k foam festlast Saturday, which was amazing but unfortunately was stuck in the middle of a lot of work hours. Standing for 6 hours was not what I really wanted to do after that race, let me tell you!

So, looking at my Tough Mudder training schedule, I realized that I have wrapped up my fourth week and am now starting on my fifth week of training – exciting! Today I tried out a different local yoga studio. Very, very gentle class. Though I typically prefer something more athletic, I admit this was good for me to stretch everything out, especially as I like to do my long runs on Saturday.

Yesterday’s run had to be cut short – a little over 5 miles instead of 6 – but I felt really great and could have kept going if not for time constraints, so I suppose that’s what really matters! It’s best if I go out in the morning on my long run, but I slept in late Saturday too, so that didn’t happen (I worked until 11:00-11:30 Friday, so I wasn’t going to push myself to get up – that doesn’t make sense to me).

I’m excited to note that after my run, my Nike+ home page looked like this:

My average pace isn’t super fast, sure, but it’s way better than it was when I started running a year ago! That, and look at those miles add up! I feel pretty darn proud of that commitment, if I may say so myself. I’m no marathoner (yet?!) but I have consistently gone out there and run. when I hit 500 miles I should celebrate… and when I hit 1,000 I will definitely celebrate!

I also got in some hill workouts and interval workouts on the treadmill. Not as fun or refreshing as being outside, but I must admit I do prefer gym equipment for things like interval training. Hill workouts are easy on the treadmill, too. Recently I’ve been doing a hill workout I found in this article via Active.com. Definitely a killer, and definitely helped me during my the surprisingly hilly 5k Foam Fest!

I took the time I could to nourish myself with delicious home-cooked meals. This particular concoction was one dinner I happily shared with my parents: organic non-GMO tofu fried with ginger and cayenne pepper, broccoli, zucchini, kale, and red pepper stir-fried in a wok with olive oil and organic peanut sauce served over whole-grain brown rice. Delicious! 😀

Because I’ve been on-the-go so much, I’ve also invested in some portable nutrition options. I might not be right, but I think a lot of other health-conscious people and definitely athletes tend to eat quite frequently. At work I can’t eat until the end of my shift, which means an absolute minimum of 5 to 6 hours of not eating. This certainly isn’t the end of the world, but if you eat lunch around 1 or even 2 and can’t eat again until 10 or even 11… you get my point. So to stay full and energized longer, I’ve been drinking my trusty fiber-filled chia seeds, and have stocked up on both Luna and Odwalla bars (some of my stand-bys!).

I found a Blender Bottle on clearance at TJMaxx recently, so obviously being the bargain lover I am picked it up when I had the chance. I figured re-integrating shakes into my diet was a good and almost inevitable thing. Well, knowing this, I decided to put it to the test after finding individual Vega protein powder packets on sale at Whole Foods.

The first one I tried was chocolate flavored. I just mixed it with 8 oz. of water this time around. I was pretty impressed with how well the Blender Bottle truly blended everything – I was skeptical! And after years of being unable to ever truly mix in powders without the use of a blender, I was pleasantly surprised at how effective this simply little invention was! The shake, on the other hand, was less impressive to me. The chocolate was not really my thing. It was ok, but I didn’t love it.

I had bought two other flavors – French Vanilla and “Au Naturel”. This time around, I mixed the vanilla flavor with rice milk instead of just water. This made it better, but it was still, well, it still tasted like a protein powder, for lack of a better phrase. It blended well but still wasn’t terribly appealing.

With the only flavor left one I had intended on putting in a smoothie, I was certain that I would find myself simply disappointed with this particular Vega line. But, running late, I didn’t even have time to make a more elaborate smoothie. So I threw the unsweetened powder in the Blender Bottle with some rice milk and some honey. I didn’t expect it to be any good, but figured the honey and the rice milk would make it tolerable.

Whoah. I was very surprised to find that I loved the taste of this shake! Which makes sense – stevia and other such sweeteners don’t taste great to me, and those are in the flavored powder varieties. The natural powder had a nice taste that mixed beautifully with the honey and the rice milk – it was just good! The natural powder also made a slightly greenish shake, something which I actually kind of liked – not that it changes the taste.

I’m hoping to try the Vega One and maybe Vega Sport powders now, too. Perhaps I will finally find a protein powder that I can get along with! I’m also definitely going to be branching out and looking for different energy gels/chews as I continue my training.

Anyone have any races or other events coming up? Protein powder recommendations?

Remember, if you’re looking for a fun race, I highly recommend the 5k Foam Fest! Check out my pictures and earlier posts (including a recap!) for more info. If you do decide to sign up, remember to use my personal discount code “FF3316” to get $5 off the entry fee!

If you remember, I owe you all a review of my most recent race – the 5k Foam Fest! For those of you who do not know or do not recall, my Sweat Pink ambassador position with Fit Approach allowed me to join Foam Fanatics – a group that allowed me to participate in the race free of charge in exchange for help with publicity and ultimately a review of the race.

I signed up for Foam Fanatics thinking, “Hey! Free entry to a race that seems pretty cool, I’ll take it.” I also figured that it would be good prep for my Tough Mudder training – like a much less intense, cuter little cousin to the now infamous race.

As a New Englander, I attended the Boston-area event. Unfortunately it was far away from where I live, but I understand that only so many spaces can hold such a large and elaborate event, and that it was meant to serve the greater New England area. The race was held at Kimball Farm in Haverhill, MA – something that I actually thought was a plus despite the distance for me personally. During the race I heard some people complain that the mud smelled and whatnot, which I thought was kind of silly. It is in part a mud run, after all, and that’s how mud smells! Then again this is coming from the girl who loves barns and cleans up after horses, so I’m not sure.

Muddy and happy 🙂

The poor people organizing the New England Foam Fest, however, ran into problems with the town of Haverhill last minute and were told that they could not provide on-site parking for participants in the race. Ultimately, that meant that participants and spectators had to park at an abandoned greyhound racing track in Seabrook New Hampshire and take a “15 minute” (it was really 20-25 minutes) drive to the race site on a school bus. As you may imagine, this proved problematic during an event with thousands of participants. The lines for the shuttle were extraordinarily long, and I estimate that the shuttle ride plus the wait for the shuttles to and from the race site added an unexpected two hours to the total time I spent on this adventure. Unfortunately, the people at 5k Foam Fest really didn’t have too much of a choice – it is just unfortunate that this controversy with the town had to happen a mere 2 weeks before the event. 5k Foam Fest also issued a public apology via their Facebook page for the confusion. That said, this was honestly the only thing that I was bummed about. The race itself, once all was sorted out, was awesome.The helpfulness and flexibility of the staff on this undoubtedly stressful day for them also did not go unnoticed – they let me join a later wave with a smile when I (along with at least half of the other participants) arrived too late for my original assigned “wave” due to the transportation issues.

The 5k Foam Fest surprised me, but in the best of ways. Though free entry was awesome for me as a broke student, none of my other broke student friends could afford to drop $75-90 on the entry fee, so I was forced to do the race alone. Most people, understandably, did the race with a team or at least a buddy or two, so I was not looking forward to going it alone. To my delight, the race was so much fun that I didn’t even mind that I wasn’t part of a tutu-wearing team! Going stag was not an issue in a race devoted to fun, community, and healthy challenges. I smiled and laughed my way through the course.

The event is publicized largely as an athletic, but mostly just fun experience. I would agree that the race is more about fun, community, and laughter than simply athleticism. That said, it was still a physical challenge – I have the scratches and bruises to prove it! The course itself was quite hilly in parts, and like all other types of trail running, was much more strenuous than a road race (though easier on the joints, I suppose). Virtually everyone, including myself, ran-walked the course – the steep hills and injection of various obstacles at different points throughout the course really made it necessary. I did end up running most of it, however – those hill workouts paid off!

The obstacles varied widely, but each one was totally fun. Honestly there was not a single obstacle that I did not enjoy. In fact, I might have actually enjoyed what appeared to be one of the least popular obstacles – the ascending cargo net climb. I was really into the ropes-heavy obstacles, as I love climbing things and have done some rock climbing in my day. For a number of others, this appeared to be a big source of anxiety! I myself am ever so slightly afraid of heights, but I promise that this obstacle is nothing to be afraid of. I highly doubt it would even be possible to truly fall – it seems to me you would just get tangled in the net if you lost your footing.

Best of all was the fact that these muddy, dirty obstacles (I’m looking at you, army crawl under ropes!) were followed up by bursts of foam. At one point I was caked with mud and then with foam – I likely looked like I had been tarred and feathered. 5k Foam Fest also set up professional photographers at nearly each obstacle on the course – another awesome perk! They will be sending out high quality photos to runners soon. I imagine with the huge number of participants that such a task will take some time!

In the meantime, I have a few photos of my own to share from the event, courtesy of my adorable parents who accompanied me and excitedly cheered me on. They were only able to get photos from the last leg of the race, which ended with this epic inflatable “Death Drop”. Again, I’m slightly afraid of heights, so this obstacle was the only one that really made me nervous. But I closed my eyes and just went for it, and it was of course fine and fun. It was pretty unexpectedly exfoliating, though… All that dirt kind of acted as a high-speed scrub O.o

My parents were so excited that they didn’t really seem to understand that it was a race and that I actually still had to run the rest of it, and that it wasn’t actually a photo shoot. Whoops!

My parents trying to pretend I’m a fitness model or something.

Soaked, muddy, and pushing for the finish!

Unfortunately I couldn’t stay for too long after the race because, as I mentioned earlier, everything took WAYYY longer than expected and I had to get to work in the early evening! The event was fun and cute, though, and immediately after crossing the finish line the staff gave us protein bars, water, our finisher medals, and directed us in line to our t-shirts. That was really well-organized and convenient – the transition was seamless and really appreciated, as I was hungry and thirsty and didn’t know where to go! They also handed out giant sponges courtesy of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, one of their primary corporate sponsors. Admittedly this form of advertising was highly useful considering how muddy I was. I also got my choice of Mike’s Hard – appreciated after all that!

The race swag was also pretty great. The medal was really cute (plus I love when races give out finisher’s medals!), emblazoned with their “Get Filthy Clean” slogan. The t-shirts were nice, too – not your standard unisex t-shirt. They had specific men and women’s cuts, and even though the t-shirt was cotton/poly and not a technical fabric which would be preferable for working out for sweatballs like me, it was super cute and I will definitely be wearing it when I’m out and about or doing one of my less sweaty workouts 🙂

All in all, a really great time. I would definitely recommend this race to anyone that was interested!It is suitable for a variety of fitness levels, but anyone who wishes to compete should definitely work on some strength training even if they plan on walking the course in its entirety. And for the broke students and such out there – don’t be too scared off by the price tag! There are always coupons. In fact, I have a coupon code for you right here! Use my personal code “FF3316” to get $5 entry at any race location across the U.S.

In the meantime, from the folks over at Foam Fest, I leave you with this fitness tip.

Hope you all had a great weekend – I know I did! I’m so, so glad that the weather out here was so nice. Happy to be able to go outside and soak up some sun!

Major New England love right now! 😀

Another great thing about this increase in me time is that now I have more time to prepare and pick out good food! On Saturday a friend and I went to the Providence farmer’s market and browsed through the delicious local goods there. I came home with local pickles (ate the entire jar already), assorted macarons, and some delicious ginger chèvre for my family. Definitely plan on going back next weekend! I love love LOVE picking up fresh food and cooking – having more time to breathe means rekindling my love for cooking/baking/food prep!

Kale chips! Will definitely be making (and rapidly eating) these all summer.

In addition to enjoying sunshine and fresh produce, I’ve continued with my training for the 5k Foam Fest and of course August’s Tough Mudder. A friend of mine wants to run a 5k together (we ran our first race together a year or so ago this summer!), so I might add in another event somewhere in there, too.

I’m also looking to run longer distances in my training for TM, so I was considering doing another longer race too. There is a 10 miler in Newport this summer, but right now I’m on the fence about signing up. We’ll see! If I can get someone to do it with me I’d be more eager to register. I think it might help break up my training, but don’t want it to be another source of anxiety.

In addition to my time at the gym and on the road running, I’m trying to make more yoga time. My new obsession is finding free or “community” yoga classes – ideal for someone on a student’s budget! And of course who couldn’t use more time on a yoga mat? This is a summer of prep and self-care, that is for sure.

I’ve drafted a TM training plan. Thus far, here’s what it looks like:

This is subject to change, of course. I’m excited but nervous – hope my DIY plan is up to par!

Any former Mudders have any other suggestions/tips for me? Or any other folks knowledgeable in this area?

Hope everyone had a great day yesterday for National Running Day – and that you got a run in if that’s your thing! What do you run for? 🙂

I hadn’t been on a run since not long after my 10k.. yeah. 2+ weeks no running! With the craziness of everything, I haven’t really been working out much at all. This week, the first normal week in a while, I was finally able to get back to a more normal routine and start training again (if you’ll recall, I’ll be doing a Tough Mudder come August). Yesterday, as it was the first day back in a while, was a short run with a friend. It felt less than great during the process (do first runs back ever feel good?), but post-run I was sweaty and feeling great.

Finally put my Sweat Pink laces on my shoes! Just in time for National Running Day 🙂

I ran again today, this time inside (I don’t like running in the rain!), and got in a solid 3 miles at a good pace. Felt infinitely better than yesterday! After a bunch of strength-training workouts (upper body on Monday and lower body on Tuesday), the motion of the run actually felt like a massage to my sore muscles. That and some quality time with my beloved foam roller has really helped my aching glutes and thighs.

But before Tough Mudder, I am excited to announce that I will be competing in a different race later this month. Through my partnership with Sweat Pink, I have been given the opportunity to run in and review a 5k Foam Fest as part of their “Foam Fanatics” program! The race looks totally awesome, and should just be an all-around fun time. Don’t believe me? Check out their awesome video below:

This should be a ridiculously fun way of prepping for my upcoming TM!

I will be running, climbing, and crawling through their foam-filled obstacle run on June 21st at 10:30 in MA. Come join me! As a Sweat Pink ambassador and a Foam Fanatic, I’ve been given a discount code available to ANYONE. Just enter my unique code “FF3316” at checkout to get $5 off your entry fee to any 5k Foam Fest nearest to you!

And for those of you in areas whose 5k Foam Fest races will be put on later than June 21st, make sure to come back to my blog and read my review of the race 🙂

Sadly, I am writing this from dreary, chilly Boston and not sun-soaked LA. I had an amazing spring break, and am so, so sad that it is rapidly coming to an end! These last few days will have to be spent studying and picking up where I left off with various student organizations and *ahem* the gym.

How I feel about hitting the books again

I am now officially in training for my May 10k (the Newton 10k) and am hoping to beat my time on my last 10k, which was ages ago in October (the Tufts 10k for Women). Now that I have *some* sense of where I could possibly be come autumn, I may be able to start signing up for more races and events. In addition to my 10k coming up, I’m hoping to do a Tough Mudder with my friend Tom on June 1st – 2 days after my graduation! More on that when I figure out the details.

But before I spiral out of control talking about the scary thing that is the future, let me revisit the past. Spring break was incredible, as I mentioned in my last post. We all wanted to do an official spring break-y spring break before we graduated, and this was our last chance! Our days were spent relaxing in sun drinking cocktails and our nights were spent relaxing in the hot tub with wine. It was very relaxing and also very boozy… Hey, I’m 22, OK?! 😛

On the least sunny day of our trip, we journeyed to Hollywood in order for me to have a spiritual experience. Yes, that means I would not leave until I found Britney’s star.

Hello, beautiful

I also found out that Sophia Loren and I have the same size hands – odd, because I have pretty big, muscular hands for a lady. Either way, I was pretty thrilled to step into her stiletto prints, because she is my Italian sister and a rad body image icon for me personally. She is an endlessly sultry and gorgeous fellow Italian with dark hair, light eyes, and olive-y skin with a curvy and airbrush-free body.

Loren killin’ it in “Ieri, Oggi, e Domani”

Women like Loren (Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé, Mindy Kaling, and even Britney Spears among them!) inspire me because they have bodies, however perfect or airbrushed in various contexts, that are more relatable to me than to those of extremely thin, largely curveless and often Northern European bodies. Those bodies are also beautiful, but they are not my own. BASICALLY that was a really long way of saying that I was just as happy as I look in this photo!

The view directly above at Hollywood Bouvelard’s Chinese Theater

I also got in plenty of snacks – don’t you worry! – during my trip. One of the most amazing things I ate? A giant banana split cookie (yes, you read that right) with chocolate chips, banana, and strawberries at the Milk Jar, a milk-and-cookies place for adults. With a side of iced coffee (served in a mason jar because LA), I was practically jumping up and down at this ecstatic temporary return to childhood.

The entire trip was incredible, but I think the best morning was by far the one I spent with the GF’s sister. We woke up early to catch a 7:30 AM hot yoga class at Modo Yoga – a celeb favorite that is mere minutes from her apartment. Man… I’ve done hot yoga before, but this was the hottest hot yoga I’ve ever done! The studio was bougie as anything, cheery and comfortable, and the actual practice room was expansive but purposefully airless. They were burning sage, which maybe made me feel like it was even hotter. I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say I’d never sweat so much in my life. I regularly did hot yoga through high school, but this was next level hot. At the end of class, I collapsed into a puddle on my mat. After wiping ourselves down (yes, I was that drenched) we browsed the little showcase they had at the front of the store. She bought cute new yoga pants, I bought a sexy new water bottle for a price that took me by surprise. Oh well. It is beautiful and apparently holds 40 oz, and retains temperature like no other – the lady behind the counter claimed that ice would stay ice in it for 12+ hours. I really hope so, because lukewarm water makes me very grumpy.

The color is called “Açai Purple”… LOL. But actually I love it.

After we made our purchases, we stepped over the the juice bar next door (hello, LA) to refuel post-practice. I’m recently re-inspired by juicing, so much so that I actually broke out my old juicer and starting shaking up some green drinks. I got a hearty, beet-based juice infused with lemongrass and ginger, among other things. Totally delicious and totally gorgeous.

Back here in Boston, I am ready to make some of my own juices again! I went shopping yesterday, so I am armed with kale aplenty. In fact, tonight I plan to make kale chips to accompany my dinner with the GF.

Be still my heart!

After an awesome but totally crazy spring break, I am ready to kind of lay low for a few days until the craziness of school starts up again. I’m thinking getting back to the gym and running, plenty of yoga and foam rolling. That, and lots of green tea, kale, detoxing dandelion tea, and juices. And chia seeds. Sweet, sweet chia seeds. So good when you’re feeling icky post-travel.

In that spirit, I did some hatha yoga before bed last night. I’ll share the same, gentle 25- minute video I used from yogadownload.com via youtube with you so that you can enjoy the same nurturing sequence!